$ Investment Club Has the 3-Unities (Vision, Objectives, and Goals)- Training manual for zambia investment clubs

 

€       Unity of Vision (Dream)

Our vision is the picture of our dreams realized.

An investment club must have a dream, and the members must share in this dream. Sameness of dream creates harmony in club operations. The Holy Bible beautifully captures the importance of harmony in the team thus; ‘can two walk together unless they agree?’. Our dream is the ultimate goal of our coming together, the where we are going, and the destination we seek. It will be the basic building block of our success in investing. Our dream is that which we want so badly, that we are willing to pay any price to achieve it. It is that which lingers in our mind 24 hours a day.

It is something we think about every moment. Zadok Rabinowitz correctly said, ‘A man's dreams are an index to his greatness.’ Konrad Adenauer was correct when he said, ‘We all live under the same sky, but we do not have the same horizon.’ Muhammad Ali, the boxing legend, and three-time World Heavyweight Champion, confessed that ‘Champions are not made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them; a desire, a dream.’ Before we start an investment club, we must find our dream and stand by it. ‘A man who stands for nothing will fall for anything.’ said Malcolm X, the African-American Muslim minister, public speaker, and human rights activist. Carl Sandburg, the American writer and editor, best known for his poetry, said, ‘Nothing happens unless first a dream.’

Our dream is the compelling reason why we will wake up and read about investments, carry out research and responsibilities in the investment club, and come for meetings early enough and consistently. It is the reason why we wake up early, go to meetings, and save for investments. Our dream is more important than what we do, or how we do it. Thomas Edison dreamed of a lamp that could be operated by electricity, began where he stood to put his dream into action and despite a thousand failures, he stood by that dream until he made it a physical reality. The power of a dream! Thoreau phrased it well; ‘dreams are the touchstone of our character’. Angelo D’Amico was in agreement when he wrote, ‘if the dream is big enough, the facts do not count.’ The dream of every investment club member is financial freedom; financial independence’.

Our vision is the picture of our dreams realized.

Our dream is based on our vision. Helen Keller, the blind, deaf and dumb motivational speaker and teacher who was the first such disabled person to earn a bachelors degree was once asked, ‘what would be worse than being born blind’, and she responded, ‘to have sight but no vision’. The vision is the key that will keep us focused. Hubert H. Humphrey said, ‘What you see is what you can be.’ Indeed, half the battle in life of getting what we want is worn when we know what it is that we want; the other half is worn when we do what we must do to get it. Napoleon Hill advises us thus, ‘Cherish your visions and dreams, as they are the blue print to your achievement.’ The vision of an investment club is a state of financial independence for its members.  

Naturally, there are those who will not have the same vision, same dream, or same picture of the end goal. These must be let go. They will sink the ship. They are the ones who will break up, split, and form another investment club within the same investment club, or take members of the club, and form a new club. We need to cut them loose.

€       Unity of Objectives

The objective is ‘the why’.

It is very important to have common objectives in order to measure achievement and create a healthy team atmosphere.

Most clubs have three stated objectives:

1.     to learn about investing generally, including savings, budgeting, investment vehicles, and investment strategies and principles, but also about life skills such as leadership, health, team work and management basics;

2.     to invest the pooled money, and hence give the members a real-life experience in investments and hence make a return on their investments and become rich and financially free; and

3.     to network members with fellow investors, as well as industry leaders and successful investors while also giving back to the community through charity work.

The main objective of the investment club is also called the mission. The mission is the ‘main activity’. The mission of investment club is ‘to pool money to invest’.

Investment clubs are a collection of like-minded people who share a common objective, making collective investments for mutual economic benefit of members.

Of course, there will be those who know everything, criticise everything, counter all decisions, argue with everyone, and generally, are a pain to deal with. We need to change them to our common objectives, or change them for new members who can tow the line.  The Luos of Kenya are right, “It is easier to escape the rain with a light basket.”

The mission of an investment club is to provide a program of sound investment information, networking, education and support that helps create successful lifetime investors and financially free individuals. By becoming confident and knowledgeable investors, the members are empowered to build better financial futures for themselves and their families. A mission statement for an investment club is a simple way for club members to stay focused and aware of the goals that they have set out for their investment club. The mission statement will guide the how the investment club is going to be organized and how it will or is going to reach the goals. The mission statement should be written down, and understood, by each member of the investment club, and any future members should have a copy of the mission statement. The mission of the investment club is to make each member financially independent through collective investments.

 

€       Unity of Goals (SMART Goals)

The goal is the ‘target’.

All club members need to have an agreement on the targets that the club is seeking to meet on a periodic basis, so that;

 every meeting is both a platform of setting new targets, as well as evaluating performance on past targets.

 It is through hitting the targets that the final target, the dream, will be realized. In essence, the targets need to be are progressive. It is the targets that will inform our day to day activities. Goals inform activities. Goals are the game plan. Goals should be short term, mid-term, and long-term.

The investment club must have targets that are specific, measurable, actionable, realistic, and time stamped (SMART).

If the club has definitive targets, and the members on board all share the same targets, then it has a much better chance of achieving the final goal, the dream, and hence, success.

Each member of the investment club needs to have the same goal in mind and the same methods of achieving that goal. Members of the investment club should be clear on what the long term goals of the club are all about. It is through constant focusing on the above three goals that the club will attract them and be successful. When these goals are clear, then they will drive, push, and pull the club, even when the weather is sickly, even when the papers are negative, even when the ‘friends’ are laughing at members, even when there is no feeling of moving on.

There are those members who will not believe in the main goal. They think the club is moving very slowly, or alternatively, they think the club is moving fast, but they are not the ones in charge, and so, they want to start their own, to be the ones in charge. We need to let them go.

The goals (targets) are the benchmarks or milestones that members can use to measure the progress and know whether the club is on track. The club’s success will be the result of actions taken every day. The club needs to meet deadlines and goals.  Members should keep in mind that the ultimate aim of an investment club is to provide more enjoyment in their life rather than taking away what is already there. This is supposed to be an exciting venture so members must make sure that they enjoy every second of it. If it simply becomes yet another source of stress, then it ultimately is not something worth holding onto. In achieving the goals, the club should apply the Pareto Principle, to give 80% of the club’s energy, time, skills and money to the 20% of the most important tasks, the priorities. The club should set goals that exploit the strengths and minimize the weaknesses of the members. This will allow the club to realize and make full use of its opportunities, and control the threats of failure. There should be an equal amount of growth and stability that is agreed upon.

Finally, the club goals should be aligned to individual member’s goals. This unity of personal and corporation/club goals will lead to active participation, guaranteeing success, and curtailing loss of members. 

 

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